Research on the use of hedging strategies in research articles has received increasing attention during the last few decades, but few have compared the use of hedges across languages and disciplines. This article explores the use of epistemic modality markers – an important and frequently used type of hedges – in research articles written in three different languages (English, French and Norwegian) and belonging to two different disciplines (linguistics and medicine). Gender differences are also examined. The material is compiled within the electronic corpus of the KIAP project (Cultural Identity in Academic Prose). Statistical analyses of the data (Kruskar‐Wallis and Mann‐Whitney tests) show that Norwegian‐ and English‐speaking researchers use significantly more of these hedges than their French‐speaking colleagues. Disciplinary affiliation and gender seem to have little influence on the proportion of epistemic modality markers in a text, but there are interesting differences between disciplines as regards the type of markers used. These findings may have implications for the teaching of academic writing as well as for cross‐cultural understanding between academics.
This article describes the design and construction of the Tracking Written Learner Language (TRAWL) Corpus. The corpus combines several features that are all rare for learner corpora: it is longitudinal, following individual pupils over several years; it has data from young learners from school years 5 to 13 (ages 10–18); it is multilingual, containing learners’ texts in several L3s (French, German and Spanish), L2 English and L1 Norwegian; and it includes teacher comments on a number of the texts. In addition, some of the texts exist in both a first and a second revised version, all tied to a rich set of meta-data. Not only does such a corpus offer new possibilities for research on language acquisition in general; it can also be used to provide valuable insights for teachers, teacher training and policymaking within the national context of Norway. In this article, we describe the design of the TRAWL Corpus and outline its uses and benefits for the research community. We also describe the compilation process in the hope that it may inspire and enable others to build similar corpora for their own national contexts.
2001), the study and its findings should be of relevance for the large number of other countries that are inspired by the CEFR or similar frameworks in their language education policies. 2. Theoretical Background In order to shed light on the above mentioned research questions, I will first review what L3 teachers need to know to be able to teach in accordance with the current paradigm for foreign language teaching (section 2.1). I will then look at novice L3 teachers' challenges in the classroom (section 2.2). 2.1 The Knowledge Base: What Do Language Teachers Need to Know? For many years, researchers have posed questions about the ideal knowledge base for second and foreign language teacher education 3 (
Behovet for fremmedspråkkunnskaper i norsk arbeidsliv er dokumentert gjennom ulike behovsanalyser og undersøkelser, og kommer i tillegg jevnlig til uttrykk gjennom medieutspill fra fremtredende næringslivsledere. Likevel synes den faktiske etterspørselen etter fremmedspråkkunnskaper å være lav. I denne artikkelen undersøker vi i hvilken grad behovet for språkkyndige medarbeidere kommer til uttrykk når norske arbeidsgivere skal rekruttere ny arbeidskraft. Analysen er basert på jevnlige gjennomganger av NAV og FINNs elektroniske stillingsdatabaser over to perioder à fem måneder, der vi registrerte etterspørsel etter fremmedspråkkompetanse i stillingsannonser fra alle yrkeskategorier. Resultatene viser at fremmedspråk utover engelsk sjelden nevnes som ønskelig kvalifikasjon og enda sjeldnere som krav. Dette framstår som et paradoks, sett i lys av at internasjonal forskning samt en rekke kartlegginger foretatt i Norge viser at fremmedspråkkunnskaper representerer en betydelig økonomisk faktor i samfunnet. Artikkelen drøfter ulike årsaker til dette åpenbare misforholdet mellom behov og etterspørsel, og nevner avslutningsvis noen implikasjoner denne situasjonen bør ha for fremmedspråksopplæring i skolen og i høyere utdanning.
It is commonly agreed that learner target language output and spoken interaction are essential to communicative language learning. This video-based classroom observation study of five lower secondary schools in Norway investigated how second language (L2) English and third language (L3) French teachers responded to their students when they spoke the target language in class. Using categories and functions from classroom interaction research and corrective feedback research, L2 English and L3 French teachers’ response patterns to learner target language output were identified and compared. Findings indicated that L2 English teachers taught in a meaning- and fluency-oriented context, frequently ignoring errors and providing ample content-related responses, while L3 French teachers taught in a form-and-accuracy context, using varied strategies to correct errors and rarely engaging with the content of the learners’ utterances. The article discusses some consequences of this lack of context shifts within subjects and recommends an increased focus on contextual differences to facilitate mutual transfer of successful practices between contexts.
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